Identity area
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Authorized form of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
Dr. Helen Johnson Van Zante, a Brookings County native and 1920s mathematics graduate of South Dakota State College, established the Van Zante Endowment to support the visual arts at her alma mater. A physicist by training and a pioneering developer of the microwave oven, Van Zante also maintained a lifelong passion for studio art, inspired by SDSC professor Ada B. Caldwell. In 1987, following a retrospective of her paintings at the Ritz Gallery, she donated her personal art collection to the Department of Visual Arts and received an honorary doctorate. The following year, she was recognized as a Centennial Alumni by the South Dakota Board of Regents.
The endowment she created funds visiting professorships and design forums with an emphasis on interior design, housing, and visual arts. These initiatives are jointly supported by the Department of Visual Arts and the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. Since its inception, the Van Zante Endowment has enriched SDSU’s academic and cultural environment by bringing nationally recognized artists and designers to campus for lectures, exhibitions, and student engagement.